Category: Short Articles

Brief observations and reflections.

A National Emergency

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short ArticlesLeave a comment

national emergency

There is no doubt that we have a crisis in this country. It is a spiritual crisis. It is a crisis of the soul. And it is a national emergency.

There is an anti-Christ spirit in our land that refuses to love our neighbors as ourselves. This spirit has poisoned religion in our culture to the point that people of faith are not only indifferent to the suffering of their neighbors, but they actually doing harm to their neighbors.

This spirit has reduced faith in God to something that is merely private and personal. Faith is understood as something that can save one’s own life, rather than saving the lives of others. It is understood as a ticket to leave this world, rather than keys to loving and blessing this world. Whereas Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us that “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” the church has made life’s most urgent question: “Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior so you can one day go to heaven?”

It is a spirit of selfishness. It is a spirit of greed. It is a spirit of power and privilege.

And although this anti-Christ spirit is obviously demonic, this spirit is not other-worldly. It is a familiar spirit that has haunted our nation since its founding.

The source of this spirit is most revealed today in the politics of Christian White Nationalism that is being fueled by the fear that black and brown people will soon be in the majority. The source of the anti-Christ spirit in our land and our national emergency is racism.

I suppose we think: “If we keep our faith in God personal and private, then we don’t have to obey what Jesus said is the greatest commandment, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and that include those who do not look like us.

The good news is that this evil spirit is no match for the power of love. It never has been and it never will. Love always finds a way.

A bullet in Memphis could not stop it. Jim Crow could not silence it. Civil War could not end it. And a cross in Jerusalem could not crucify it.

I believe the best way to fight an anti-Christ spirit is with the spirit of Love Himself, the spirit of Christ. We can respond to our national emergency and defeat the spirit of the anti-Christ by being the body of Christ, understanding that our faith is not solely a personal matter and should never be private.

The Gospels paint a portrait of a Jesus who is continually tearing down the walls that divide us. From the wall of heaven being ripped apart at his baptism to the temple curtain being being torn in two at his crucifixion, it is evident in the Gospel stories that no wall on heaven or on earth can contain or limit the love of God.

Jesus breaks every barrier erected by religion and culture. He touches lepers and a woman with a hemorrhage, making himself ceremonially unclean. He allows Mary Magdalene to sit at his feet as a disciple, a position (the feet of a Jewish Rabbi) that was previously reserved for male disciples. He welcomes little children to the dismay of his disciples. He learns from a Syrophoenician woman. He asks a woman from Samaria for water. He breaks the chains and liberates a demoniac. He eats and drinks with known sinners. He raises the dead.

I believe this is what is needed to attend to our national emergency today. Understanding that nothing in all of creation separates any of us from the love of God, as the Body of Christ, we must do the public, social and political work of Jesus to proclaim every human being is united by this love. We are all beloved children of God; therefore, we must all learn to live as beloved sisters and brothers.

And trust that love will always find a way.

How I Am Voting

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short ArticlesLeave a comment
As an earthling, I am voting for the environment.
As a human being, I am voting against vulgarity, division, deceit and violence.
As a white southerner, I am voting against white nationalism and racism.
As a straight person, I am voting against homophobia, transphobia and bigotry.
As a man, I am voting against sexism and misogyny.
As a runner, I am voting against ableism.
As a person of faith, I am voting against fear.
As a Christian, I am voting against Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism.
As a pastor, I am voting for freedom of religion and freedom from religion.
As an employee, I am voting for fair living wages.
As a husband, I am voting for marriage and family.
As a father, I am voting for public education.
As an American, I am voting for liberty and justice for all.
As a follower of Jesus, I am voting for people who are sick, poor, imprisoned, hungry, naked, oppressed and marginalized.
As a person who tries to love my neighbor as myself, I am voting against anyone and anything that harms my neighbor.
As a voter, I am not voting Republican, and I am not voting Democrat. I am voting for right over wrong, love over hate and good over evil.

Listen Up Nation! Seth’s Got Something to Say

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short Articles1 Comment

SETH SMILE MCM TRAINING 2

On Sunday, during the Marine Corps Marathon in our nation’s capital, Seth Allen, who has Cerebral Palsy and Autism, will not recognize the White House, and he doesn’t have a strong opinion about who currently occupies it. When we roll by the US Capitol, Seth will not think of his Representative or his Senator from Oklahoma. The Supreme Court will be just another large building. When we pass by the monuments on the National Mall, Seth may not recognize them or understand who or what they memorialize. When we pass by the WWII and Vietnam Memorials, and when we start and finish near Arlington Cemetery, Seth will not grasp the significance.

For Seth, it will be just another race with Ainsley’s Angels, one that he participates in every month. I am sure he will notice that the course is much longer and has more runners; however, for Seth, the joy he experiences may be no greater than the joy he receives from participating in a small local 5k.

So, why spend all the money? Why travel all the way to Washington DC from Roland, Oklahoma? Why roll 26.2 miles?

Seth’s father George perhaps answered these questions best when he said: “Because this land is his land too.”

Seth’s inclusion with over 30 other Athlete Riders with Ainsley’s Angels in what is called “the People’s Marathon” powerfully proclaims the words inscribed in the granite of the Jefferson Memorial:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The inclusion of Ainsley’s Angels in the Marine Corps Marathon declares to the occupant of the White House, to each lawmaker at the Capitol, to the judges seated on the Supreme Court, and to the entire nation: “Regardless of ability, difficulties, individual differences, unique characteristics, and different needs, ALL are created equal. ALL have a right to live. ALL have a right to love. ALL are worthy to be free. All are worthy of respect. ALL deserve to be happy. ALL deserve to be included.”

And if we continue to vote for this principle in two weeks, Seth’s smile at the finish line near the sacred grave markers of Arlington will reveal to the world that those who sacrificed their lives for this nation did not do so in vain.

And this will certainly not be “just another race.”

 

 

 

Going High When It Is More Popular to Go Low

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short Articles1 Comment

Red Hen

A restaurant owner refuses to serve the White House Press Secretary and her friends, and people cheer: “Serves them right! If a baker can refuse to bake a cake for religious and moral convictions, then a restaurant owner can refuse to serve an entrée for religious and moral convictions! If they can be ugly, then we can be ugly! We have to fight fire with fire!”

But as my mother taught me a long time ago: “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” And “an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.”

Besides that, being more ugly never produces beautiful results. Things can get out of hand. And a fire that gets out of hand can destroy everything.

Rev. Dr. Martin Martin Luther King Jr. prophetically said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

But you say, “Being calm doesn’t work! Being moderate isn’t helping! Being civil doesn’t change anything!”

I am not advocating calmness, moderation or civility. I am advocating being fired-up and fuming…with love. I am advocating being radical and uncompromising…with love. When it comes to love, I am advocating being revolutionary!

For I believe that passionate, intemperate and inclusive love has the power to change the world.

We can be angry. We should be angry. Anytime someone hurts any of God’s children, love should rile us up like a mother bear robbed of her cubs (Hosea 13:8).

In responding to extreme evil, we can be extreme. But we must always go in the opposite direction. We must fight extreme meanness with extreme kindness; extreme callousness with extreme empathy; extreme indifference with extreme love.

With the Apostle Paul, I believe love bears all things. It is courageous and generous. It is self-expending and sacrificial. It bends over backwards. It is always willing to go out of its way, take an extra step, even walk an extra mile. Love believes all things. It always looks for the good, for the very best in the other, even if that best is sometimes buried deeply or covered completely. It is positive and encouraging. Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, and no fading of its hope. Love wins.

Therefore:

While some refuse to bake a cake or cook a steak for their enemies, we gladly serve our enemies the best cake and steak they have ever eaten.

While some childishly hurl harassing and dishonest insults at their opposition, we engage in respectful and truthful conversation with all people.

While some rule with threats and intimidation, we lead with service and compassion.

While some indoctrinate and propagate a fear of the other that brings out the worst in people, we teach the beauty of diversity that encourages the image of God that is in all people to break out.

While some take the low road, we take the high road. And we take it all the way.

Father’s Day Wake-Up Call

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short ArticlesLeave a comment

 

Children at the border

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment (Romans 13:1-2).

Yes, Romans 13 says that. But that is not all it says. After writing a few sentences on obeying the laws of the state, the Apostle Paul begins echoing the words of Jesus:

You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:8-10).

Then, in the very next verse, Paul writes that “now is the moment” we need to “wake up.”

Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:11-12).

When it comes to being subject to the supreme law to love our neighbors, too many Christians today have hit the snooze button. They have pulled the covers over their heads and have closed their eyes. For whatever reason: self-preservation; greed; racism; or to protect their privileged positions, they seek darkness over light, judgment over grace, division over unity, exclusion over acceptance, and hate over love.

The Apostle John warns us of “false prophets” who possess “the spirit of the anti-Christ” and “a spirit of error” who can easily lead the people of God astray (1 John 4:1-6). Stressing how important it is for Christians possess “a spirit of love,” he then pleads:

Love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love…  No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and God’s love is perfected in us (1 John 4:7-12).

Yes, the Bible says to be subject to the governing authorities. But it says much more than that. One would have to be asleep not to know it.

It is Father’s Day. Our neighbors are being harmed. I can not think of a better day for Christians to wake up. Now is the moment.

Profiting from Perpetual War

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short ArticlesLeave a comment

dwight-david-eisenhower-photo-portrait-cbs-archive-1964

Today, we remember and give thanks for those who have given their lives in the service of our nation. During the pastoral prayer yesterday, many pastors in our country asked God to help us honor their memory by…

…caring for the family members they have left behind, by ensuring that their wounded comrades are properly cared for, by being watchful caretakers of the freedoms for which they gave their lives, and by demanding that no other young men and women follow them to a soldier’s grave unless the reason is worthy and the cause is just.[i]

The late pastor of Riverside Church in New York, Harry Emerson Fosdick, once said:

I hate war for its consequences, for the lies it lives on and propagates, for the undying hatreds it arouses.

In January 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower used his farewell address to alert the nation of what he viewed as one of its greatest threats: the military-industrial complex composed of military contractors and lobbyists perpetuating war.

Eisenhower prophetically warned that “an immense military establishment and a large arms industry” had emerged as a hidden force in US politics and that we “must not fail to comprehend its grave implications.”

Failing to heed his warning, today we find ourselves in perpetual war. While perpetual war creates perpetual losses for families and perpetual increases in our national debt, it also creates perpetual profits for private business.

In 2015, the Department of Defense budgeted more money on federal contracts, $274 billion, than all other federal agencies combined. In 2016, CEOs of the top five military contractors earned on average $19.2 million each — more than 90 times the $214,000 earned by a U.S. general with 20 years of experience and 640 times the $30,000 earned by Army privates in combat.

In his sermon on militarism at Riverside Church in 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the leaders of the original Poor People’s Campaign said:

If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.

To honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, I believe we must do all that we can to escape this dark corridor, or at the very least, be dragged down it kicking and screaming.

This is just one of the reasons the Poor People’s Campaign has been reignited. We are marching and screaming that no more blood will be shed for this country unless the reason is worthy and the cause is just.

Calling for a moral revival in this nation, we do not believe we can remain silent when we discover the immoral profit that is being made by perpetual war.

We cannot remain silent when we hear war-mongering speech from our leaders that supports this immoral profiteering.

We cannot remain silent when our leaders call for a privatization of the Veterans Administration that will allow corporations to profit from the injuries of war.

We cannot remain silent when the Commander-in-Chief, who has the power to declare war, lies repeatedly to the American people.

We cannot remain silent when we learn that 53 cents of every federal discretionary dollar goes to military spending, and only 15 cents is spent on anti-poverty programs, many of which assist our veterans.

We cannot remain silent when those who profit by war proliferate our peaceful communities and with weapons of war that kill our children.

We cannot remain silent when people of color are being unjustly victimized, demonized and dehumanized by a “war on drugs” or a “war on terror” that has become a war on the poor.

We cannot remain silent when children who are immigrants are being separated from their families to support a political agenda.

We cannot remain silent when the political agenda is to support a war economy for the financial benefit of a few. If we want to honor those who gave it all for our country, we must agree as a nation that it is morally indefensible to profit from perpetual war.

Speaking on behalf of those who sacrificed their lives in WWI, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae ends his beautiful poem In Flanders Fields:

To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high.

May we honor their fallen hands by holding high the torch of truth while marching for peace.

[i]J. Veltri, S.J.

 

I Pledge Allegiance

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short ArticlesLeave a comment

Poor People's CampaignDelivered at the Introduction Meeting of the Poor People’s Campaign at First Christian Church in Fort Smith AR, May 6, 2018

I

In America, I as an individual,have certain inalienable rights. As an individual citizen of this country, I have freedom. And with that freedom, I have a great responsibility. I have a voice. I have a vote, and I have the responsibility to make this country the very best that it can be. And that includes keeping our water safe, our air clean and our land pure.

Pledge allegiance

Our allegiance does not mean blindly accepting our faults, never questioning our past, and never second-guessing how current policies will affect our future. Allegiance means faithfully doing our part to “mend thine every flaw.”

It means being loyal, law-abiding citizens committed to our civic duty of voting in elections. However, it also means voicing opposition to laws that need to be changed and to elected officials who need be corrected. Civil allegiance sometimes means civil disobedience.

Like a faithful marriage, pledging allegiance means being loyal to our country in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, never giving up, never becoming complacent, never running away. It means perpetually praying for it, continually correcting it, forever fighting for it.

To the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands

The flag is not a mere sign for our country. It is the profound symbol of our country. Signs are limited as signs only give information. Signs do not have the power to stand for something. Only symbols can do that. Whereas signs invoke intellectual responses from the brain, symbols elicit visceral emotions from the heart and gut. This is the reason seeing the Confederate Battle Flag flying on the back of motorcycles this weekend turned my stomach. The flag is not a mere historical marker, label, design or brand but a powerful symbol that stands for something. Flags have the power to move us, stir us, and guide us.

One nation

Our flag stands for one nation. Although heritage and culture are important aspects of life in different parts of our country, they are never more important than the unity of our country. Abraham Lincoln and Jesus spoke truth when they said: “a house divided against its self cannot stand.”

We need to come together not as liberal or conservative, republican or democrat but simply as Americans who believe we can do better and be better.

Under God

Not under God because we are down here and God is up there. Not under God because we want some sort of theocracy like the belief of ISIS and other Islamic extremists. And not under God because we believe we were established to be a Christian nation like the beliefs of Christian extremists.

Rather, we pledge our allegiance to country under, after, second to, our allegiance to the law of God.

As people of faith, this is why our allegiance is not blind. The Commander-in-Chief is not our chief commander. The Supreme Court is not our supreme being. Our allegiance is first pledged to something that is bigger than our nation, even larger than our world.

It is an allegiance that informs our vote, rallies our civic duties, admonishes our obedience to civil law, and yet, sometimes calls us to civil disobedience. For the Christian, it is the God revealed through the words and works of Jesus who becomes our civil conscience. We believe the law of God revealed through Christ supersedes every human law.

Immediately following words from the Apostle Paul regarding good citizenship and obeying the law, we read that every one of God’s laws is summed up in just one law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said it this way: “On this hang all of the laws of the prophets “…that you love your neighbor as yourself.”

And just in case some are still confused to what “love” is, Paul defines love by saying: “Love does no harm to a neighbor.”

Jesus said, “There is no law greater.” It is as if Christ is saying, “If you don’t get anything else from Holy Scripture, you need to get this: ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” Yet, as evidenced by the amount of hatred, racism and violence that is in our nation today, much of it propagated in the name of God, this supreme law is widely ignored, disobeyed or rejected all together.

I believe it is when we first pledge our allegiance to this supreme law, that we have the opportunity to be a great nation. For when we love our neighbors as ourselves, when in everything we do to others as we would have them do to us, it quickly becomes “self-evident that all people are created equal with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Indivisible

When we pledge allegiance to the supreme law of God, when we pledge to love our neighbors as ourselves, we promise to work together under God to build bridges to overcome the gaps and barriers that we have created that divide us: racial, sexual, ethnic, political, economic, educational and religious. We pledge to come together, side by side, hand in hand, for the equality of all people and the inalienable rights of all people.

This does not mean that we are to never disagree with the beliefs or lifestyles of others. We can certainly love our neighbor while disagreeing with our neighbor. It is not hating our neighbor when we disagree with the flag that our neighbor flies; however, when we infringe on their life, their liberty, and their pursuit of happiness by supporting public policies or actions that treat them as second-class citizens, that do harm to our neighbor, that keep the poor poor while keeping the rich richer, it is certainly not loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. As our 44thPresident said in the eulogy of Rev. Clementa Pinckney: “…justice grows out of recognition of ourselves in each other. [Our] liberty depends on [our neighbors] being free, too.”

With liberty and justice for all.

We pledge to work for freedom and fairness not just for our educated, rich neighbor who can afford the best attorneys, and not just for our advantaged, abled-bodied and able-minded straight, white, Christian, English-speaking neighbors. We pledge ourselves to stand for liberty and justice for all. And according to the Abrahamic faiths, “all” especially includes foreigners, minorities, the poor, the differently-abled, all those who have been pushed to the margins.

All even includes people of every nation. For our love and our mission to stand for liberty and justice have no borders.

In response to a call to include the rights of the LGBTQ community as civil rights, one of my friends raised the following question on Facebook, and to avoid being obscene, I am going to paraphrase: “They only represent 2% of the population. Why do they matter?”

This was not just one lone, ugly, hateful voice, but one that was representative of the sentiment of many.

“They only make up 2% of the population. Why do they matter?”

For the Christian who pledges his or her allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all: LGBTQ+ lives matter; Black lives matter; Poor People’s lives matter, because according to everything for which this flag stands under the supreme law of the God of love, all lives will never matter, until all finally means all.

Holy Week

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Easter, Lent, Short ArticlesLeave a comment

Emma

It happened 2,000 years ago, and it happens today.

Someone experiences suffering.

They love their neighbors as they love themselves.

They have a dream that love can change the world.

They heal. They teach. They unite. They march.

They speak truth to power.

They inspire.

But they also disturb.

Pushback comes.

Betrayal. Denial. Lies. Mocking. Humiliation. Degradation. Dehumanization.

Some of it comes in the name of God.

The good news is that Easter is coming.

Hope is rising.

And love will win.

God Has Not Left Our Schools

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short Articles4 Comments

god-not-allowed-in-schools1

It has been a difficult week to be on social media. I can usually agree to disagree with most of the posts, comments and replies from my friends. I can read statements that I even find offensive and privately SMH.

However, sometimes things are said that demand a public response, especially from a minister. Like, blaming the school shootings on God’s absence from public schools today.

I have read it almost everyday this week. Something like: “We don’t have a gun problem. Our problem is that we have taken God out of our schools.”

This is when the truth must be told. God has never left our schools.  And, any inference that God has left our schools calls for a response.

In fact, a theological argument could be made that God is more present in schools today than God was present in schools prior to the 1970’s when schools were segregated by the evil of racism.

That public schools strive for equality and equity like no other time in our nation’s history is evidence that God has not left our schools.

That gifted college graduates continue to sacrificially turn down higher paying careers to teach our children in public schools is evidence that God has not left our schools.

That schools are for children, our most vulnerable citizens, those Jesus said belonged to the Kingdom of God, is proof that God will never leave our schools.

And out of Parkland, Florida, we have seen even more proof.

That an entire nation has come together to grieve with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is an undeniable verification that God has not left our schools.

That teachers were willing to lay down their lives to protect their students is an indisputable sign that God has not left our schools.

That children are courageously marching in state capitals and in Washington DC to articulately speak truth to power is an irrefutable testimony that God has not left our schools.

That the efforts of these children are being demeaned, that they are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, is a certain confirmation that God has not left our schools.

That God is right now, in our midst, taking this tragedy and resurrecting it, that God is working in our world to transform the evil of this mass shooting into something good, is an absolute verification that God has not left our schools.

Prophetic Persecution

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short Articles1 Comment

roy moore.jpg

Roy Moore recently defended himself with the words of Jesus: “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

What must be said is that the prophets were not persecuted for displaying the Ten Commandments on government property.

The prophets were not persecuted for supporting state-sanctioned prayer in school.

The prophets were not persecuted for advocating for the governmental control of the bodies of women.

The prophets were not persecuted for protecting the rights of every citizen to own assault weapons.

The prophets were not persecuted for protecting the religious freedom of bigots to discriminate against minorities.

The prophets were not persecuted for stirring up fear and hatred of the foreigner in their midst.

The prophets were not persecuted for supporting legislation that blessed the rich and sent the poor away empty.

The prophets were not persecuted for fighting for the liberty and justice of the privileged.

No, what must be said is that the prophets were persecuted for supporting the moral values that has always made America great.

The prophets were persecuted for pointing out how any proposed legislation might break the greatest commandment to love our neighbors and may cause some of our neighbors harm, especially our poor neighbors.

The prophets were persected for standing up for justice for our most vulnerable citizens, such as the right of every child having equal access to an equitable and quality education.

The prophets were persecuted for elevating the status of women and protecting their freedoms and well-being.

The prophets were persecuted for promoting healing, health and peace for all people, especially for those living in poverty.

The prophets were persecuted for defending the rights and freedoms of those marginalized by the state and extreme religion.

The prophets were persecuted for always welcoming and accepting the stranger in their midst.

The prophets were persecuted for blessing the poor and sending the rich away empty.

The prophets were persecuted for fighting for the liberty and justice of all.

So, although Roy More may feel like he is being persecuted right now, he is not being persected like the prophets before us.